Influence of longitudinal radiation exposure from microcomputed tomography scanning on skeletal muscle function and metabolic activity in female CD-1 mice

Abstract

Microcomputed tomography (μ CT) is an imaging technology to assess bone microarchitecture, a determinant of bone strength. When measured in vivo, μ CT exposes the skeletal site of interest to a dose of radiation, in addition to nearby skeletal muscles as well. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of repeated radiation exposure from in vivo μ CT on muscle health – specifically, muscle morphometrics, contractile function, and enzyme activity. This study exposed the right hind limb of female mice to either a low (26 cGy) or moderate (46 cGy) dose, at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, while the left hind limb of the same animal was exposed to a single dose at 6 months to serve as a nonirradiated control. Muscle weight, cross‐sectional area, isometric contractile function, and representative maximal enzyme activities of amino acid, fatty acid, glucose, and oxidative metabolism in extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus were assessed. Low‐dose radiation had no effect. In contrast, moderate‐dose radiation resulted in a 5% increase in time‐to‐peak tension and 16% increase in half‐relaxation time of isometric twitches in EDL, although these changes were not seen when normalized to force. Moderate‐dose radiation also resulted in an ~33% decrease in citrate synthase activity in soleus but not EDL, with no changes to the other enzymes measured. Thus, three low doses of radiation over 6 months had no effect on contractile function or metabolic enzyme activity in soleus and EDL of female mice. In contrast, three moderate doses of radiation over 6 months induced some effects on metabolic enzyme activity in soleus but not EDL. Future studies that wish to investigate muscle tissue that is adjacent to scanned bone should take radiation exposure dose into consideration.

The Influence of Supplemental Dietary Linoleic Acid on Skeletal Muscle Contractile Function in a Rodent Model of Barth Syndrome

“…Soleus from one hindlimb was dissected from distal to proximal tendon after being secured with braided silk sutures and was immediately mounted in an in vitro skeletal muscle testing system (Model 1200a; Aurora Scientific Inc.) for contractile measures as previously reported ( Gittings et al, 2012 ; Mikhaeil et al, 2017 ). Data acquisition was performed using the Model 600a software, version 1.60 (Aurora Scientific Inc.) and muscle stimulation via flanking platinum electrodes driven by a Model 701B bi-phase stimulator (Aurora Scientific Inc.).…”